California’s New Workplace Know Your Rights Act: Employer Compliance Deadlines Approaching

On October 12, 2025, Governor Gavin Newsom signed Senate Bill 294 (SB 294), known as the Workplace Know Your Rights Act. The bill requires employers to inform employees of certain rights they have in the workplace that may not be covered by existing notice and posting requirements, including, for example, protections against unfair immigration-related practices, the right to notice of inspection by immigration agencies and constitutional rights under the Fourth and Fifth Amendments of the U.S. Constitution.

To achieve this, the law creates a new notice obligation for employers, requiring them to provide a stand-alone written notice to each employee on or before February 1, 2026. Additionally, SB 294 establishes new rules around emergency contacts, requiring employers to allow employees to designate an emergency contact by March 30, 2026.

As these compliance deadlines draw near, let’s take a closer look at these new employer obligations under the Workplace Know Your Rights Act.

Workplace Know Your Rights Act Notice Requirement

The Workplace Know Your Rights Act requires all employers to provide a stand-alone written notice to each current employee in a manner the employer normally uses to communicate employment-related information. Employers can deliver the notice in-person or through other methods such as email or text message, as long as it can “reasonably be anticipated to be received by the employee within one business day of sending.”

Originally drafted to address many topics, including those already covered by existing poster and pamphlet requirements, the bill was amended to narrow the scope of information required. Under the final version signed into law, the written notice must contain a description of the following:

• The right to workers’ compensation benefits, including disability pay and medical care for work-related injuries or illnesses, as well as the contact information for the Division of Workers’ Compensation.
• The right to notice of inspection of I-9 Employment Eligibility Verification forms or other employment related records by immigration agencies.
• Protection against unfair immigration-related practices against a person exercising protected rights.
• The right to organize a union or engage in protected, concerted activity in the workplace.
• Constitutional rights when interacting with law enforcement at the workplace, including an employee’s right under the Fourth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution to be free from unreasonable searches and seizures and rights under the Fifth Amendment to due process and against self-incrimination.
• A description of new legal developments pertaining to laws enforced by the California Labor and Workforce Development Agency that the Labor Commissioner deems material and necessary.
• A list of the enforcement agencies that may enforce the underlying rights in the notice.

Although the new required notice doesn’t create any new rights or obligations for employees, employers are still obligated to provide this notice. Fortunately, employers do not have to assemble this information themselves. The Labor Commissioner published a template notice on December 31, 2025.

The written notice must be provided to an employee in the language the employer normally uses to communicate employment-related information and that the employee understands. If the Labor Commissioner’s template notice is not available in that language, employers may provide the notice in English. As of the date of this article, the Labor Commissioner’s notice has been published in English and Spanish.

Employers must provide written notice to their employees by February 1, 2026, and annually thereafter. They must also give the notice to new hires on or after February 1, 2026.

Lastly, the law requires employers to keep compliance records for at least three years, including the date each written notice is provided or sent.

Emergency Contact Information

SB 294 also creates new obligations around employees’ emergency contacts and when employers must notify them.

Specifically, the law states that if an employee has notified their employer that they would like their designated emergency contact notified if the employee is arrested or detained at the worksite, then the employer must notify the emergency contact. If the arrest or detention occurs away from the worksite but during working hours or during the performance of the employee’s job duties, then the employer must notify the emergency contact if the employer has actual knowledge of the arrest or detention.

Employers must provide current employees with the opportunity to name an emergency contact by March 30, 2026, and at the time of hire for new employees hired after that date. Employers must also allow employees to indicate whether the emergency contact should be notified if the employee is arrested or detained.

Employers must allow employees to update their emergency contact at any time.

What Should Employers Do Now?

For the new notice requirement, employers should:

• Obtain the new notice and distribute it to their current employees on or before February 1, 2026.
• Adjust their procedures to ensure annual distribution of the notice.
• Revise their onboarding process to ensure the notice is distributed to new hires along with other notices, pamphlets and new hire paperwork.
• Keep records of compliance, including the date that each written notice is provided or sent. Employers can do this in different ways, including written acknowledgements or electronic records if the notice is sent via email or text.

For the emergency contact requirement, employers should:

• Provide employees with the opportunity to designate an emergency contact and indicate whether their emergency contact should be notified if the employee is arrested or detained by March 30, 2026.
• Revise their onboarding process so that new hires are given the opportunity to designate an emergency contact and indicate whether the contact should be notified if the employee is arrested or detained while working.
• Inform employees that they can update their emergency contact information at any time.

To help employers with these new requirements, CalChamber has created a new Emergency Contact Informationform (also in Spanish). In addition to providing employees with the opportunity to designate general emergency contact information, the form contains information about the Workplace Know Your Rights Act and allows employees to indicate whether their emergency contact(s) should be notified if the employee is arrested or detained, or whether someone else should be notified in that circumstance.

CalChamber also created a new Workplace Know Your Rights Act Acknowledgement form. Employers can give employees this acknowledgement form at the same time they give them the new notice and the emergency contact form. The form allows employees to acknowledge that they both received the new notice and had the opportunity to designate an emergency contact — and it provides employers with documentation supporting their compliance with the law.

If you want to learn more about California’s new 2026 employment laws, there is still time to register for our popular 2026 Employment Law Updates seminars, where our employment law experts provide in-depth analysis, clear explanations of compliance obligations, and a comprehensive review and discussion of recent state and federal laws and regulations.